Steel imports rose above 2 million tons in February.

U.S. producers said February’s imports captured more than one-quarter of the domestic market, nearly 500,000 tons over the target set by U.S. trade quotas. “Almost 18 months after President Reagan announced his program to limit steel imports . . . to 20.2% of the U.S. market, we find that February imports . . . have taken an outrageous 26.6% of the market,” said Donald H. Trautlein, chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute. The New York-based American Institute for Imported Steel said month-to-month changes do not truly represent a trend because they reflect orders placed two to four months earlier.